The war in Ukraine, the tensions in Asia and the trade disputes, yes. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed this with the Chinese leaders he met yesterday and today in Beijing, including President Xi Jinping. But at the Council meeting table – the first held in five years by such a senior White House official in Beijing – Blinken also wanted to raise another issue, little known in Italy and clearly sui generis for foreign policy: But what has become a real national security issue for the US: the fentanyl crisis. Blinken himself confirmed that he spoke to Xi at the press conference following the meeting. The result, the Secretary of State told reporters, is that the United States and China are now “in talks to set up a working group to block the flow of chemicals that are helping to exacerbate this crisis.” But what is it and why is the issue so important to the White House? And what does China have to do with it?
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— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 19, 2023
Spoon River Numbers
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that, in its approved pharmaceutical version, is used in the US as a pain reliever to “reduce acute pain such as that caused by advanced cancer,” according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. It is believed to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. But the use of illicit versions of fentanyl has exploded in the United States for years: Administered in its pure form or in combination with other drugs, it attracts cocaine and heroin users. With the latter it shares the typical property of inducing euphoric effects, but it is estimated to be 50 times more potent than the latter. Result: Fentanyl is proving to be an extremely deadly drug: without prompt medical attention, it can kill those who take it within minutes. What has happened to an exorbitant number of Americans in recent years, especially very young people. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 1,500 people die every week as a result of knowingly or unknowingly using these substances. A niche phenomenon that has become a national red flag in recent years. Of the 100,000 overdose victims recorded in the US over the past two years, more than two-thirds are believed to have been due to fentanyl. In 2021, the number of deaths caused by synthetic opioids was 67,325, a 26% increase from the previous year. Numbers that make this the worst drug crisis in US history.
The growing trend in fentanyl overdose victims in the US (NSC Injury Facts)
How the opioid trade works
According to industry experts, the fentanyl problem began with overprescribing of the pain reliever, but then spread as the US black market was flooded with illicit versions of the substance — in pure form, mixed with other narcotic powders, or in pills. Other countries like Canada and Australia are also dealing with a similar crisis. But where does the weapon that’s silently massacring young (and not just) Americans come from? In “marketable” form, mainly from neighboring Mexico. But the US authorities are convinced that the “raw material”, i.e. the basic raw material chemicals, arrives in the Central American country mainly by ship from China. The Mexican narcotics cartels then undertake to assemble the substance in its final form and distribute it to the greedy markets of North America. For this reason, the US government has been urging Beijing to take action to nip the illicit trade in killer substances in the bud for some time. So far, however, Chinese authorities have mounted a wall of malicious indifference to the issue, claiming that fentanyl precursors are just chemicals like many others sold through regular commercial channels. The Biden administration’s hopes of persuading Beijing to make concessions on the issue were dashed further last August when, following a visit by then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, China decided to end talks with the US on a series cancel from dossiers. With Blinken’s visit today, Washington hopes to “soften up” Beijing on this crucial dossier as well. Even if there has been no official reaction from the Chinese side so far.
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